


The Sweetest Thing

by sparrowbaker59



Category: Perfect Strangers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Not Related, Family tension, Multi, Prom, Work In Progress, except the first couple chapters they're not actually in school, not that they were closely related anyway, unrequited love a bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 16:17:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1394122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowbaker59/pseuds/sparrowbaker59
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>17-year-old Larry Appleton is unpopular at school, gets picked on by his (younger) siblings, has an incredibly strained relationship with his father, and is extremely lacking in self esteem. When he meets the new foreign-exchange student from Mypos, things seem to be looking up, but unfortunately Larry's life just doesn't work that way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Perfect Stranger, or In Which Larry Needs Rescuing

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've published any of my writing online, so please be kind!

‘Daa-aad!’ Larry shouted from the foot of the stairs. ‘Are we going, or what?’

‘Yes, we are! Get in the car!’

Elaine giggled. ‘That rhymes!’

Larry rolled his eyes. ‘Let’s go, Elaine. We can just wait in the car.’

‘Ah, you go ahead, Noogie.’ The eleven-year-old bounded through the doorway to the front room. ‘I need to practice piano, and you know Dad’s gonna take forever!’

‘Fine. I’ll go by myself.’ Larry turned, mildly irritated, and headed for the front door. In his determination, he nearly ran into his brother Billy.

‘Watch it!’ Billy growled. He drew back his hand in a fist and Larry instinctively flinched, holding his hands in front of his face. Instead of feeling a blow to the head, though, he heard Billy laugh derisively. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

‘What, are you scared of your little brother?’

Larry gritted his teeth. ‘That’s not funny. You know you’re a lot bigger... than... me.’ His voice trailed off on the last few words as he realised he probably wasn’t helping his case.

Billy snorted, shook his head, and kept walking. Larry kept walking, too, glaring at his feet and muttering to himself. He kept his curly head down as he stepped outside and down the front steps, which is why he didn’t see the baseball flying toward him.

There was a loud CRACK! followed by an agonising pain that shot through his head as his legs gave way beneath him. He could hear murmuring voices all around him but when he strained to hear what they were saying, the dizzying pain only intensified. He suddenly realised he couldn’t see anything, either. Just a faint reddish light.

‘Oh my god! I’m blind!’ He was trying to yell but it came out more like sobbing. ‘I can’t see! I’ll be blind for the rest of my life! Oh god oh god oh god!’

‘Lawrence Gunther Appleton! How many times have I told you not to take the lord’s name in vain?’

Well, at least he could hear now.

‘Mom? Mother? Mommy? Is that you? I... I... can’t... see you...’

‘Uh, maybe because your eyes are closed, Larry.’ Even six-year-old Timmy sounded fed up with Larry’s drama.

‘Are you crying?’ Rob asked in what sounded like disgust and disbelief. Larry’s eyes flickered open to reveal his tomboyish sister standing over him, feet apart, smacking her gum loudly in the way that always drove him up the wall.

‘Excuse me? I don’t know if you noticed, but I just got hit in the head by a very hard, flying object. I’m pretty sure you’d be crying too, Roberta.’

He shouldn’t have said it, of course. He knew that. The shower of dirt and gravel that sprayed his face and hair was probably unnecessary, really - although knowing Rob, it was probably an involuntary reaction.

‘Don’t. Call. Me. That.’ She spat on his head, which was also fairly unnecessary, Larry thought.

‘Sick!’ He shook his head vigorously, sending dirt flying in all directions. ‘Mom!’

Lois Appleton slammed the trunk to the family van in frustration and pushed a stubborn strand of hair behind her ear. She turned and glared at her squabbling children. “Larry, for crying out loud, you’re almost eighteen years old. You’re supposed to be an adult at eighteen. I don’t see why you think you need to fight with your younger siblings all the time, and I especially can’t believe you’re trying to tattle. In a couple of months you’ll have graduated high school. It’s time to grow up. And,’ she glanced frantically at her watch, ‘it’s time for us to get out of here. We were supposed to be on the road over an hour ago! Everybody get in the van, now.’

‘Actually...’ Larry slowly pulled himself up to his feet, though his head still hurt. ‘Since you brought up my birthday and how I’m going to be an adult and all...’

‘No.’

‘But if I’m an adult I should be able to choose how I spend my own birthday!’

‘You’re spending it with your family. Get in the van.’

He wanted to argue more but his head hurt too much and he could tell his mom wasn’t going to budge on this point anyway. Instead he mumbled to himself as he tried to brush himself off. ‘That’s what I was about to do, anyway...’

 

*********************************************************************************

 

The second they reached the campsite, Larry quickly but gently laid little Sarah on the seat behind him, then scrambled to yank open the big sliding van door. This day had so far proven to be pretty miserable, but at least he could have the satisfaction of being the first one out of the crowded vehicle.

Of course, that door was always a bit stubborn, and it took him a few tries to pull it open. By that time, several of his brothers and sisters had crowded up behind him, elbowing each other and urging him to just hurry up.

He wasn’t sure who actually pushed him face first into the dark mud below, or if it had been on purpose or not. What he did know was that this was absolutely the last straw. ‘I’m going for a walk,’ he announced as coolly as possible while wiping the mud from his eyes. ‘Don’t wait up.’

He could hear his entire family - including his parents - laughing as he started down the trail toward the lake. But he was very careful not to cry until he was well out of sight.

Larry Appleton was a careful person, after all - careful not to give too many emotions away, careful not to let his grades slip below an A-, careful to stick to the marked trails whenever he left his family’s campsite. Which is why he was more than a little startled by the body that suddenly crashed into him from behind a cluster of trees.

‘Oof!’ the body said loudly before taking a step back and offering an apologetic grin. ‘Sorry!’

The boy looked to be around Larry’s age, or maybe a year or two younger - but certainly taller (not that that was saying much, really). He was awkward and gangly, with a fairly large nose and a somewhat unfortunate haircut. His clothes made him look a little like a colourblind elf. Still, there was something sort of attractive about him. Probably his eyes, Larry decided. He’d always liked brown eyes. _Shit,_ he thought. _Shitshitshitshitshit. I hope he doesn’t notice I’ve been crying._

‘Have you been crying?’ the strange boy asked with what seemed like genuine concern. _Shit._

‘No,’ Larry responded, CASUALLY. ‘Just allergies.’

‘Oh, of course! Allergies!’ the boy said a little too enthusiastically. He spoke with a thick accent that Larry couldn’t quite place - Greek, maybe? ‘My name is Balki Bartokomous.’ He stuck a hand out to Larry, still grinning.

Larry weakly shook Balki’s hand, a little dazed. ‘That’s, um. Quite a mouthful.’ Balki tipped his head back and laughed out loud at that. Larry almost smiled. ‘I’m Larry Appleton.’

Almost before he had finished speaking, Balki was lifting him off the ground in a crushing embrace. ‘Larry Appleton!’ he cried, pronouncing his last name ‘Appleh-ton.’ ‘My American cousin!’

‘Please put me down.’ Balki did as he was told, but looked no less enthusiastic. ‘And, um. I’m not your cousin. So.’

‘All Americans are our cousins! Yaya Biki used to tell me that back on Mypos. That’s why Yaya so excited for me to come to America as,’ he paused to concentrate on the pronunciation. ‘Ex-change student.’

Larry blinked. ‘Mypos? Where is that?’

‘It’s a little Mediterranean island off the -’

‘Fascinating. Listen, it was nice meeting you, Balki, but I’d better get back - my family’s waiting for me.’ That was a lie, but at least with his family he wouldn’t be expected to make conversation. Larry hated conversing, especially with strangers.

‘Oh - okay.’ For the first time in the minutes since they met, Balki frowned. For some reason it made Larry feel very uncomfortable.

‘We’re here all week,’ he said without knowing why. ‘Number seven. You can stop by whenever you want.’ What?

‘Really?’ Balki’s usual grin was returning.

‘Sure.’ Larry forced a smile of his own, suddenly aware that his face felt unnaturally hot. He gave a little half-wave as he spun around on his heels. ‘See ya, I guess.’ He started back up the trail without waiting for a response.

‘Goodbye, Cousin Larry!’ Balki called after him.

Larry kept quiet and stared stupidly at the ground, trying not to grin like a total ass.

 

****************************************************************************

 

‘Susan, I need you to come kidnap me.’

‘Larry...’

‘I’m serious. I hate camping. I don’t know why my dad even bothers insisting I come along every year. He hates me.’

‘Is it time for another dad rant? I guess it has been a few days now.’

‘He’s just purposely trying to ruin my birthday.’ Larry laid down on the seat of the van in exaggerated despair. ‘He always sucks all the happiness out of everything.’

‘Tragic. I’m crying for you right now.’

‘The point is, come get me. I’d much rather be with you right now.’

Silence.

‘Susan?’

‘Yeah?’ There was something strange about her voice.

‘Are you kidnaping me or what?’

Laughter - Susan never seemed to laugh fully, just a sort of half-forced sounding chuckle. ‘I don’t even -’

The rest of Susan’s words were drowned out by a loud tap-tap-tap on the window. Larry jumped a little, then sat up to glare at whatever sibling had dared disturb him.

It wasn’t a sibling. It was that kid from the day before - Balki.

‘Um... hang on a second, Susan.’ He pulled the phone away from his face and opened the door slightly. ‘Uh, hi?’ he said to a grinning (as ever) Balki, quirking an eyebrow.

‘Hi, cousin! Are you busy?’

The eyebrow stayed quirked. ‘Uh, sort of? I mean, I’m kind of on the phone.’ He waved the phone around a bit to prove he really had been using it.

‘Oh.’ _Dammit, not the sad face again._ ‘I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me. My ghost family are all taking a nap, and I got bored.’

Larry blinked. ‘You mean, “host family?”’

‘Well, of course I do, don’t be ridiculous!’

Larry sighed dramatically and slowly put the phone back to his ear, never taking his eyes off Balki. ‘Susan? You still there? Hey, listen, I gotta go. We’ll talk about the kidnapping later, ‘kay? Bye-bye.’ He slipped the phone into his pocket and hopped out onto the ground. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Oh, boy!’ Balki draped an arm around Larry’s shoulder and began striding along energetically while Larry tried as hard as he could to act indifferent to the situation.

The act didn’t last long. It was impossible to keep one’s cool around Balki, it seemed. The kid was like a Disney cartoon character, exclaiming about how friendly the sun looked, whistling back at the birds, frantically clutching Larry’s hand whenever he saw some oh-so-exciting tree or rock or whatever, tsk-tsking over the occasional stray can or wrapper, everything done with a smile and a song. Normally Larry would despise that kind of bullshit, because normally it would seem obviously forced. But Balki really did seem genuine, and Larry couldn’t help but admit his optimism was a little contagious. Pretty soon he was laughing and singing along with him, asking him to translate what the birds were saying, and deciding that rocks and trees were actually kind of interesting. ‘I wish I brought my camera. I thought I was gonna be too depressed to take many pictures, but this is really pretty.’

‘You are a photographer?’ The way Balki said it, it sounded like the greatest thing in the world to be. Larry beamed. He couldn’t help it.

‘Well, I mean, I’m ... interested in photography. I’m not very good. I mean ... I’m okay, I guess, but -’

‘You’re just being modest - I’ll bet you’re amazing!’

‘Well ... I ... I guess I am pretty good ...’

‘Of course you are!’

‘Mr. Hodgkins said I was one of the best photography students he’s ever taught!’

‘Mr. Hodgkins don’t lie!’

‘I’m a damn good photographer!’

‘That’s the spirit of ’76!’

‘Someday I’m gonna be famous, like ... like Ansel Adams - or Roger Morgan!’

‘Roger Morgan will be asking for your autograph!’

Larry’s face was starting to hurt from smiling so much. He didn’t care. ‘Balki ...’ He put a hand on the taller boy’s shoulder. ‘Thank you. I don’t have many people who are supportive of me being a photographer. My family thinks it’s a waste of time. My teachers think it’s a waste of potential.’

‘And your friends?’

‘Uh, my friends? Well, uh ... I don’t have a whole lot of ... friends...’

‘Well now you have me. And I say you should follow your dream.’

_Jesus, this is embarrassingly cheesy._ ‘Thanks.’

Balki grinned even wider than normal. ‘Oh, cousin, it was easy! All I had to do was say you were good, and then I just agreed with everything you said. I’ve never even seen a single one of your pictures!’

Larry froze, his smile staying plastered on his face but no longer reflected in his eyes. ‘You’re right. You were just tricking me into a false sense of self-worth. I’m never going to make it as a photographer. I should just give up right now.’

Balki shook his head in disbelief. ‘What are you talking about? I never said that! I was just trying to show you that the important thing is for you to believe in yourself!’

Larry couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Hhhooowwwww are you rreeeeeeeaaaaallllllll???’ he moaned, running his hand down his face.

Balki looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’

Larry stared at him, wide-eyed. ‘You’re like fucking Snow White! You talk to animals! You sing all the time! You speak fluent Hallmark! People like you don’t exist!’

He hadn’t meant it as an insult, and he wasn’t yelling really, but something flashed through Balki’s eyes that troubled Larry. It only lasted for a second, though, and then Balki was beaming as usual. ‘I guess that makes me pretty special, huh?’ He grabbed Larry by the hand and started back down the path, his steps a bit more deliberate than before. Larry felt confused for a moment, but the warm sensation of Balki’s hand holding his soon distracted him.

 

***********************************************************************

 

A few hours later, the two teenagers were standing on the wooden bridge over the stream near the lake. Larry trailed a long stick lazily in the water below as they talked. ‘So how old are you anyway, Balki?’ He mentally patted himself on the back for sounding so casual.

‘Sixteen.’ By this point, Balki’s characteristic grin had relaxed into a regular smile. ‘How old are you?’

‘Eighteen. Well, practically. Tomorrow’s my birthday.’

Balki clapped his hands together eagerly. ‘Tomorrow is your birthday?! We’ll have to celebrate!’

Larry chuckled and rolled his green eyes. ‘Right. That’ll be a first.’

‘What do you mean?’ Balki asked innocently, strongly pronouncing the ‘h’ in ‘what.’

‘I mean, we’re in the middle of the fucking woods, like we always are on my birthday. My family’s not gonna acknowledge it. If I’m lucky, my mom will put a candle on one of the pancakes and Elaine will give me an extra s’more. Billy always gets taken to games and fancy dinners on his birthday, but not me. My birthday just isn’t important to them, even if it is a big one.’

Balki had one hand over his mouth in shock, and now extended his other hand to grip Larry’s shoulder. ‘Oh, Cousin! That’s the saddest story I ever heared!’

Larry blinked. ‘Well, I mean. I wouldn’t say that, but it is pretty shitty of them.’

Balki, nevertheless, seemed overcome with grief. He made a sort of sobbing noise and pulled Larry into a tight hug. For a brief moment, Larry was too much in shock to respond, but once he regained his senses he decided he couldn’t afford to refuse comfort from cute boys. He buried his face into Balki’s shoulder and allowed himself a small smile. This camping trip was proving to be not quite as bad as he’d thought it would be.

They stayed like that for a long time. A ridiculously long time, Larry thought. Normally he would have been a little embarrassed, but somehow Balki made things different. He wasn’t sure what it was, exactly. Finally, after letting out a little sigh, he shifted his weight a little to one side, causing Balki to pull back a bit. A few strands of black hair had fallen over Balki’s eyes, and he didn’t bother to fix it. Larry was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to kiss him.

‘I know what it is to feel like your family don’t care about you,’ Balki said gently. ‘My father left when I was very small. My sister Yanna won’t have anything to do with us. Mama acts as though she had died. And even Mama don’t seem proud of me anymore. I know how it hurts to feel this way.’

Larry felt a knot in his stomach, and not the good kind this time. He had gone and done it again, making everything about him when somebody else had it worse. He was selfish, a terrible person. ‘Balki, I - I’m sorry. I didn’t -’

‘Do not apologise for what is not your fault. What happens to me does not make you hurt less. I only tell you those things because sometimes a hurt person needs another hurt person. Sometimes happy is not what you need. Instead you need to be sad, together.’ Balki smiled, just a tiny smile. ‘It was nice being sad with you.’

Larry nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, same...’ he muttered. There was something else he wanted to say, but now he felt his usual shyness creeping back in. There was a good five minutes at least of them both silently staring into the water, before he finally blurted out:

‘IsitokayifIkissyou?’

Balki’s head shot up and he turned to stare at Larry with an unreadable expression. ‘What?’

Larry wasn’t sure if Balki hadn’t heard him or understood him, or if he was just surprised. He felt his face flush as he took in a deep breath. ‘I said... is it okay? If I....?’

Balki took a step toward him. ‘You want to kiss me?’

_God, this is embarrassing._ ‘Uh... yes?’

Balki stared at Larry some more, not moving except to blink his long dark eyelashes, silent except for the faint sound of his breathing. Larry awkwardly ran a hand through his curly hair. What the hell was Balki doing? This was getting almost unbearable. He wondered if he should just change the subject and pretend it never happened.

‘Uh, look, I’m... sorry. Just forget I -’

He was interrupted by Balki’s lips pressing against his. He was startled by how tender the kiss was, not like the frantic kissing he remembered from school dances and movie theatre dates. This was soft and slow and perfect.

He had just moved his hand to the back of Balki’s head to pull him in closer when Balki abruptly ended the kiss and quickly backed away. ‘Cousin,’ he half-whispered. Larry internally winced at the familial term. ‘I know how I can give you a good birthday.’

_Whoa, what?_ ‘And how’s that?’ Larry’s voice cracked embarrassingly on the last word.

Balki’s huge smile had returned, his brown eyes sparkling. ‘Come to my tent very early in the morning. Three-thirty am. It’s a surprise.’ He leaned in and stole a tiny kiss from Larry, then spun around on his heels and strode back up the path to the campsites.

Larry stood there, dazed. He couldn’t organise his thoughts coherently. He could only focus on a few words - _Balki, birthday, kiss, surprise, three-thirty, cousin, Balki, Balki, Balki, dinner, Balki - wait, what?_

'Lawrence! What the heck do you think you're doing down there? It's time for dinner!'

_Oh. Right._ 'I'll be there in just a second!' he yelled back. 'I just need to make a quick phone call!'

Larry's father grumblingly headed back to the campsite as Larry punched in the speed dial to call Susan. 'Hey, Susan? Yeah, um... it looks like I don't need you to kidnap me after all...'


	2. What's In The Bag? or In Which Larry Almost Completely Fucks Everything Up, Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two teenage boys alone in a tent at 3 am can only mean one thing... oatmeal cream pies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pacing in this is a little choppy at times, and I'm sorry. Also, I hate writing in text messages, but Larry and Susan are a couple of textaholics, so I just did it the most half-assed way possible.
> 
> Thanks to tumblr user captainelphie for directing me to this hella rad playlist: http://8tracks.com/mortimer_x/instrumental, I couldn't have churned out the end scene of this chapter without it.
> 
> Oh yeah, and I had fun working a lot of canon references into this, including a shameless title drop :P (They said the thing!!!!) Enjoy!

Larry checked the time on his phone for what seemed like the millionth time but was actually - but no less embarrassingly - the twenty-third time. 3:24 am. Just six minutes left. He still couldn’t believe this was happening.

The phone vibrated excitedly in his hand with news of an incoming text. Susan.

**Are you gonna have sex?? There’s no way you brought protection with you on a family camping trip!!! :P**

**I doubt it. He’s...not like that. I’ll be careful tho xx**

**I just feel weird about this, hon. I mean you don’t really even know this guy. He could be bad news. :/**

Normally, he would listen to Susan’s advice above all else, but right now his heart was beating too loudly to listen to anything else.

**Trust me, he’s not.**

**How do you knowwww ??????**

3:31. _Damn._

**If you met him you’d understand. G2g. Txt u l8r**

He didn’t wait for a reply, just carefully stepped over his sleeping brothers, slowly unzipped the tent, stepped outside, and zipped it up again, and started running, holding his phone out in front of him to use as a flashlight. He wasn’t much of a runner, though, and it didn’t take long at all for his breath to grow ragged and his legs to ache. About halfway down the path to Balki’s campsite, his phone vibrated again. He decided this was a good opportunity to catch his breath.

**Ugh. You and your chatspeak. Tell me what happens as soon as you get back - I’ll be awake. I love you. <3**

Larry rolled his eyes, still breathing hard. Susan was always trying to mother him just because she was five months older. Then again, it was nice to have that sometimes. He certainly didn’t get enough of it at home. He was lucky to have Susan. He spent another minute or so staring at the last three words of her text. She was the only person who told him that on a regular basis. He still wasn’t used to it.

Then, out of nowhere, something huge slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and flinging the phone out of his hand. For a few seconds Larry felt nothing but pure terror. Was this it? Was this the end? Getting mauled to death by some wild forest-dwelling cat or bear just moments away from (possibly) getting laid? And on his eighteenth birthday? He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he lamely tried to cover his head with his arms, but just then he felt another pair of human arms wrap around him.

‘Cousin Larry! You’re here! I was just on my way to make sure you weren’t lost!’ The arms - Balki’s arms - gripped him tighter. Lawrence, you’re an idiot.

‘Is this going to become a habit?’ Larry laughed shakily, lowering his arms and returning Balki’s embrace. ‘You barreling out of the woods and knocking me over as a greeting? Because next time I’d like to be prepared.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to knock you over, but you’re just so small!’

_Wow. Great. Thanks._ Larry pulled away slightly, offended.

‘You dropped this,’ Balki added apologetically, handing Larry his phone. The glowing screen finally lit up the two boys’ faces for a minute, and Larry was reminded of the reason he was traipsing around in the woods in the middle of the night.

‘So, uh... what’s this about a birthday present?’ he asked, biting his lip. He usually liked to think of himself as pretty suave, but so far this camping trip had proven otherwise.

Balki’s grin grew wider than ever before. He was starting to remind Larry of the Cheshire cat. ‘It’s in my tent!’ he practically squeaked. ‘Come on, I show you!’

Once again, Larry felt himself being dragged by the hand down the dirt path. He suddenly didn’t care what happened next. He was eighteen years old, an adult. He was deliberately breaking rules, in the middle of the night. And he was alone in the dark with a cute boy with an accent. This birthday couldn’t possibly get any better.

‘Here,’ Balki said proudly when the reached a small but expensive-looking red tent. ‘They give me my own tent.’

The second Larry ducked into the tent behind Balki, he felt like a complete idiot. The interior was covered in balloons and streamers. Balki had pulled one of those little plastic noisemakers out of nowhere and was making noise with it. A few bags and boxes of candy and junk food sat on top of Balki’s sleeping bag. A stuffed sheep sat in the corner wearing a tiny party hat. If Balki wasn’t still holding his hand, Larry probably would have run away and hid.

‘Ohhhh my _lord_ ,’ he whispered, humiliated.

‘Happy birthday, cousin!’ Balki cried enthusiastically. ‘Are you surprised? Be honest.’

‘Oh, yeah, I’m definitely surprised,’ Larry assured him.

Balki did that thing three-year-olds do where they wrinkle up their nose and hunch up their shoulders and giggle. Larry felt like he might have a heart attack.

‘I... I can’t believe ... how did you do all this?’ If it were anyone else, it would seem unlikely that they would just carry tacky birthday party supplies around with them for no reason, but Balki was another story.

‘Mary Anne - she’s my host sister - she had to show up a couple days late so I asked her to pick up some things at the store on her way here! And look - she even bought wax lips! It’s not a party without wax lips, you know!’ He hastily grabbed a pair of the lips and put them on.

Larry couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Oh my god, stop. You’re ridiculous.’

Balki spat them out and grinned. ‘You want a pair?’

‘Uh, no thanks, Balki. I think I’m all set.’ Larry nudged the pile of packaged food aside and sat down awkwardly on the sleeping bag. ‘What else you got?’

‘Do you like Bugle chips? We can put them on our fingers like little hats!’

Larry sighed. Clearly the only way to handle this situation was to go along with Balki’s childish antics. ‘Sure. Bugles. Why the hell not.’ He glanced around a bit more while Balki rummaged through the food supply.

‘Hey Balki.’

‘Yeah?’

‘What’s up with the stuffed sheep?’

Balki immediately sat up straight and looked Larry directly in the eye. ‘Do you like him?’ he asked earnestly. ‘His name’s Dimitri. I bring him here from Mypos.’

Larry blinked. ‘Yeah, I like him. He’s cute,’ he said, trying not to sound monotone.

The Mypiot offered just a small smile this time. ‘I’m glad you think so, cousin. I just hope you won’t be the only one.’

Now Larry was completely lost. ‘Um... why? Are you gonna show him at the county fair or something?’

Balki rolled his eyes, actually seeming irritated for a second. ‘Well of course I’m not, don’t be ridiculous. He’s a stuffed sheep.’

Larry shrugged. ‘So what’s the deal, then?’

Balki sighed and pushed a lock of dark hair back from his forehead. ‘Well... do you promise you won’t laugh at me?’

‘Of course I won’t laugh at you!’ Larry didn’t think he was in any position to laugh at anyone. But now he was really curious. He leaned in closer to the younger boy. He briefly considered putting his hand on Balki’s, but quickly decided against it. No need to freak the poor kid out.

‘Okay. Well. Next week will be my first day of school in America, and I’m very... nervous. Mary Anne is helping me learn more teenage American customs, and better English. I’m not worried about that. But what if... what if I get lost? The schools here are very big. And what if I get homesick? I have no one to talk to in Myposian. There’s no hok pok ponk pa konk konk team. Mary Anne says they don’t even serve ding ding machmud at the cafeteria.’

Larry shook his head. ‘Uh, no. Sadly, they do not serve ding ding machmud. At least not at my school.’ He didn’t think he wanted to know what that actually was.

Balki went on without acknowledging Larry’s comment. ‘I won’t know anyone except for Mary Anne on the first day. So I think I’m gonna need some oral support.’

‘Moral support,’ Larry corrected hastily. ‘And that’s understandable. I’d need moral support too if I was going to school in another country.’

Balki nodded unhappily. ‘So that’s why I wanted to bring Dimitri to school with me. I could keep him in my bag. But sometimes I might want to take him out and hug him. And Mary Anne said that if anyone at school sees him, they will say mean things to me. I don’t want that to happen.’

Larry felt an odd feeling in his stomach, almost like being sick. ‘Anyone who’s mean to you is just a pathetic fuckweasel who’s not worthy of your time. Just ignore them.’ Balki laughed appreciatively, but Larry wasn’t in a laughing mood anymore. ‘I can’t imagine why anyone would want to be mean to you, of all people. You’re -’ Watch what you say here, Lawrence... ‘You’re really ... nice. And ... cool.’ Ugh.

‘Thank you.’ Balki was squirming uncharacteristically. Like me, Larry thought. Suddenly the foreign boy bounded over to the other side of the tent, grabbing a small box of something. ‘Is it okay if we skip the chips? I want to have cake, and ice cream, and presents! A real American birthday!’

‘No way. You got me a cake? And presents?’ This was really awful.

‘And ice cream!’ Balki pointed out eagerly. ‘Well... it’s that kind of ice cream that you eat on a stick. And it’s not really cake. Just these things.’ A small object wrapped in plastic flew across the tent and whacked into Larry’s shoulder.

_‘Oh my god. These are oatmeal cream pies.’_

‘Do you like those? I’ve never tried one.’

‘They’re my favourite things ever! Oh, man. Thank you.’

Balki beamed with pride. ‘Wait until you open your present!’

Larry nearly choked on his cream pie. ‘A - a _present?!_ ’ he spluttered. ‘Balki.... thank you very much, but you shouldn’t have spent all this money on me. It’s just a birthday. I’ve had seventeen of them already, and I’ll probably have at least a few more. It’s no big deal.’

Balki laughed and brought a large gift bag over to the sleeping bag where Larry was sitting, plopping down eagerly next to him. ‘I didn’t spend any money on this, silly. It was something I bring with me from Mypos. But I think you need it more than I do.’ He quickly pushed the bag into Larry’s lap. It wasn’t heavy. ‘Now open it!’

Larry was feeling a little overwhelmed. This was someone who barely knew him, who he would probably never see again after this week, and he was giving him gifts and buying him food and acting like he actually cared about him. He felt a pang of guilt. If Balki ever actually got to know him, he would change his mind. Larry Appleton was not an interesting person, or a fun person, or a particularly nice person. He was the kid everyone at school went out of their way to avoid, and for good reason, he thought. He didn’t deserve friends, and he definitely didn’t deserve Balki. For a second he felt like crying.

‘Oh, cousin, open it already!’ Balki cried impatiently, tugging on Larry’s sleeve like a five-year-old. ‘The suspect is killing me!’

‘Suspense,’ Larry corrected, though he wasn’t sure why he bothered. The sound of Balki’s voice had brought him out of his thoughts, but now he just felt sort of numb. He robotically pulled the tissue paper out of the bag, his face and his mind both completely blank. There was a large, thick cloth folded up at the bottom. He pulled it out and slowly unfolded it, then gasped. ‘Balki... this... this is beautiful. I can’t... I mean... wow. T-thank you.’

‘My mama make this,’ Balki said gently. Larry knew he could see the tears rolling down his face, and he did nothing to hide them. The tapestry depicted a small island village at night. The houses were all shown from the inside, where you could see the people all asleep in their beds. A hill rose up behind the houses where a shepherd and his sheep lay asleep in the grass. And above all, in the dark starry sky, there was a giant smiling woman with her arms circling the village.

‘Is this your village?’ Larry half-whispered.

‘Yes. And that’s me!’ Balki pointed to the shepherd on the hill. ‘And that,’ he said, pointing at the motherly figure in the sky, ‘is Princess Riva.’

‘Who’s Princess Riva?’ Larry asked, genuinely fascinated. He couldn’t take his eyes of the smiling face in the tapestry.

‘When we go to sleep on Mypos, we close our eyes and wait for Princess Riva, the beautiful fairy princess, who holds all the sleeping people in her arms and protects them until morning. Sometimes if you hang a picture of her over your bed, you can feel her arms around you keeping you safe.’ Balki gently put a hand on Larry’s knee. ‘I want you to have this in case it helps you to be happy more. I know I am usually the saddest at nighttime.’

Larry sighed and looked at Balki for the first time since opening the present. ‘Balki. Why are you doing this for me? You don’t even really know me. So why do you care? Even people who know me don’t care about me. So why you?’

Balki looked deeply offended. ‘I care about everyone. Everyone deserves to be happy. But you are even more important to me, because... you are one of the first friends I make when I come here to this country, and... you told me about what makes you sad, and I told you about what makes me sad... and... and... we... _kissed_... and I never kissed anyone before... and...’

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, Balki. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate it. I just... most people don’t throw birthday parties and give homemade gifts to perfect strangers.’

‘But you’re not a stranger! You’re my friend! Don’t you think of me as a friend?’

Larry sighed again. He was ruining everything, as usual. ‘Look, Balki, I like you, and I’m glad you think of me as a friend, but... after this week, I’m going back to Madison. I’m going to finish high school, and then I’m going to college. After that, who knows, I’ll probably move to Chicago and marry some girl named Margaret and have five kids. The point is, I’m probably never gonna see you again.’

Balki just stared at him, mouth hanging open, eyes bulging. _Shit, I broke him. Why did I have to say anything? Why do I always do this? No wonder I don’t have friends._

‘Did you say Madison?’

Larry’s eyes narrowed. ‘Um... yes? Madison, Wisconsin? Where I live?’

Balki was quiet for another moment before tentatively asking ‘What school?’

Larry blinked. ‘East High School.’ _There’s no way, he thought. There’s no way he’s going to the same -_

‘That’s where I’m going!’ Balki nearly screamed. ‘See, you will see me again! We can be best friends! Isn’t that great?’

Larry glanced down at the gorgeous tapestry in his lap, then looked around at the tent littered with junk food and balloons. By the time he looked back at Balki, he was smiling. ‘Yeah,’ he agreed. ‘That is pretty great.’

 

**********************************************************************************

 

‘So had you really never been kissed before?’ Larry teased.

Balki’s cheeks turned slightly pink. ‘Of course I had, don’t be ridiculous!’

‘Family doesn’t count.’

‘Uh, well then, no.’

Larry laughed. ‘I’m surprised. Even I was kissing people by the time I was sixteen. By the time I was thirteen, even. Didn’t you ever have a girlfriend or anything on Mypos?’

Balki shook his head. ‘I never even really thought about it.’

‘Well I’m sure other people did. I’ll bet half the kids at your school were secretly writing sappy poetry about your eyes and shit in their notebooks.’

Balki looked shocked. ‘I don’t think so...’

‘Balki, trust me, if there are actually people who would go out with me, I guarantee there’s at least twice that many who would go out with you. You’re nice, and fun, and a lot cuter than me. Obviously people are going to like you.’

There was silence for just enough time to make it awkward.

‘The sun should be coming up in a couple of hours,’ Balki said in an almost convincingly casual tone. ‘You should probably go back and get some sleep.’

‘Yeah....’ Larry felt his stomach contract. He really didn’t feel like going back to his family’s campsite and putting up with their shit. He also really didn’t want to leave Balki. ‘Umm, actually, is it okay if I just... sleep in here? I kind of want to put off the whole family ignoring my birthday thing as long as possible.’

‘Sure! But... I only have one sleeping bag.’

_Um._ ‘So... do you want me to just sleep on the floor? Use the tapestry as a blanket? Because that’s fine with me, honestly, I just want to avoid my family.’

‘No, no. You can’t sleep on the floor. You’d be so cold and uncomfortable.’ He pronounced that last word with 5 distinct syllables. ‘I think my sleeping bag is big enough to fit us both!’

All of Larry’s thoughts just turned into exclamation points. ‘Are you sure?’ He wasn’t sure if he yelled that or not.

Balki smiled. ‘Of course I’m sure. Come on.’ He motioned for Larry to get off the sleeping bag while he unzipped it. ‘Get in.’

It took every ounce of emotional strength and concentration for Larry to act casual about it, but he managed it pretty well, he thought, until he felt Balki’s arms slip around his waist. He only flinched slightly, but it was enough.

‘Sorry,’ Balki said, moving his arms quickly back into whatever personal space he actually had in the crowded sleeping bag. ‘There’s not a lot of room in here.’

Larry laughed faintly and pulled Balki’s arms back around him. ‘Here. I don’t mind.’ He felt Balki smile against his back. This was good. He was a little uncomfortable, but he felt warm and safe and happy, which were things he hadn’t felt in a long time. He knew this was probably a one-time thing, that once they were in school they would just be acquaintances who nodded at each other in the hall, but that didn’t matter right now. Right now it was his birthday, and right now he had Balki, and right now that was more than enough.


End file.
